PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Pontiac woman is taking street repair into her own hands — literally.
Betty Lewis-Rand, a lifelong Pontiac resident in her 60s, was recently spotted filling potholes herself on her neighborhood street.
The video, captured by Melvin Grigsby, shows Lewis-Rand shoveling material into potholes while Grigsby offers words of encouragement.
“You gotta ride down this street every day?” Grigsby asked in the video.
“Every day,” Lewis-Rand replied. “You can’t go down Pike.”
Hear more from Betty Lewis-Rand during our interview below:
Grigsby said he recorded the video to highlight the pothole problem in Pontiac.
“I wasn’t expecting to see this young lady out there doing her own pothole repair,” he said. “It just seemed ridiculous.”
For Lewis-Rand, filling potholes is personal. She’s been doing it for years, often twice a year since her husband died in March 2014.
She told us that her husband used to win the Pontiac Pride and Beautification Award almost every year.
“He made sure everything was pristine,” Lewis-Rand said.
Now, Lewis-Rand says she’s carrying on that legacy.
She said she's seen the city come out once but after a week, "there was nothing there. It was just a hole again."
The city of Pontiac gave our team this statement in response:
Much like cities around the state, we recognize that Pontiac’s roads are experiencing extreme wear. Our DPW crews are out there every shift, weather permitting, working to fill potholes with hot and cold patch mixes, which are commonly used to repair them. You can even see the patches that were previously made in the shared video. Since January of this year, DPW has placed 507 tons of patch filling more than 20,000 potholes around the city.The new DPW director has thoroughly reviewed the situation and provided the Mayor and Council with information in April on a new method that could increase the effectiveness of patching potholes. He has also added another member to the crew to work on this issue.We have made progress repairing or constructing some of our roads, but clearly, more needs to be done. However, that will only happen when there is a significant increase in funding from the State.
Meanwhile, Shaniqua Ervin, Lewis-Rand’s daughter, said, “She told me she was in a lot of pain that night, and I was wondering why are you out there doing that?”
Lewis-Rand's niece, ShaTara Simmons, added, “It’s disheartening because she gives back to this community and attends meetings to get her voice heard, but nobody is hearing her.”
For now, Lewis-Rand said she’ll keep working on the potholes herself.
She told us that she's in her 60s, feisty and not willing to let the problem go unsolved.
Her daughter said she hopes the city takes notice.
“She just wants the city to look better and do better,” Ervin said.
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